Compliance & Regulation
LSB “must force” Legal Ombudsman to publish decisions in full
The Legal Services Board must take “a more proactive stance” in making the Legal Ombudsman publish complaint outcomes in full, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has argued.
BSB eyes targets to improve diversity of senior staff
Nearly half of staff at the Bar Standards Board are now from ethnic minority backgrounds but it is looking at targets to improve the diversity of its management.
Formal warning for judge who had sex in chambers
A recorder who had sex in his judicial chambers over 15 years ago has been given a formal warning for misconduct.
Ban for Co-op estate planner over LPA dishonesty
An estate planning consultant at Co-operative Legal Services who falsely confirmed that he had witnessed the signatures on a lasting power of attorney has been banned.
PE in the law expands to Sweden as six firms join new group
Private equity in the law expanded to Sweden yesterday with the launch of AGRD Partners, a new group formed by six firms and backed by a Nordic investment house.
SRA shuts down nine-partner firm over solicitor’s suspected dishonesty
The Solicitors Regulation Authority yesterday shut down two law firms – including a nine-partner practice in Yorkshire – due to the suspected dishonesty of a solicitor.
Law firm owner rebuked for work of non-solicitor caseworker
A law firm owner has been rebuked after the Upper Tribunal declared an application for judicial review made by an immigration caseworker at his firm as totally without merit.
Solicitor who employed banned will writer is suspended
A solicitor who employed a will writer banned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority from working for law firms without its permission has been suspended for a month.
SRA rebukes Scottish firm over management of client money
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has issued a rebuke to a Scottish law firm for breaches of the accounts rules since taking over the work of collapsed McClure Solicitors.
MoJ warned about impact of diverting law firms’ client account interest
Legal aid firms will be the first to suffer if the Ministry of Justice presses ahead with the idea of using interest on lawyers’ client accounts to fund free legal services, it has been told.
Police office turned barrister disbarred for rape convictions
A barrister has been disbarred for raping a woman, when she was a teenager under 16 and when she was older, while he was a policeman in the 1980s.
Ban for office manager who took nearly £550,000 from firm
A part-time office manager who misappropriated nearly £550,000 from a law firm has been banned from working in the profession.
Two solicitors rebuked for taking client information when leaving firms
Two solicitors who took confidential client information from their former employers have been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Gender-critical barrister praises BSB approach to ‘meritless’ complaints
A leading ‘gender critical’ barrister has praised the Bar Standards Board for the way it handles “meritless” complaints after rejecting two made against her.
Consultant-led law firms “pose greater money laundering risk”
The decentralised nature of consultant-led law firms carries extra money laundering risks that mean compliance officers may need to be “more interventionist”, the SRA has cautioned.
Blog
A familiar story?
There is no doubt that the rising cost of clinical negligence claims deserves attention. However, the system’s true cost driver is often not the claim itself.
When AI becomes a line on the client’s bill
On 23 June, Legora changed how it charges. The platform announced that its most capable product was moving away from a flat per-seat licence fee to consumption-based pricing
Which legal AI will still matter in 12 months?
Four years ago, when senior partners asked me which legal AI they should buy, I would have walked them through a vendor comparison. Now I tell them the question is wrong.
